What Is The Fabre Doctrine?
Some of the legal concepts that you will encounter if you are a party in a legal case, or even if you just follow the news about the workings of the courts, bear the names of Supreme Court decisions. For example, medical or scientific evidence presented in a civil or criminal case must meet the Daubert standard, which is named after a Supreme Court decision from the 1990s; it was only a few years ago that Florida implemented the Daubert standard, which replaced the Frye standard, the namesake of which was a Supreme Court decision from 1923. When the police arrest someone on suspicion of a crime, they must recite the Miranda warnings, named after a Supreme Court case brought by a defendant who was wrongfully convicted after making a coerced confession. In personal injury cases, a Supreme Court decision that might loom over your own lawsuit is the Fabre decision. The Fabre doctrine could enable the defendant to talk their way out of paying you the full amount of damages you request. The best way to prevent this from happening is to contact a Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney.
Comparative Negligence Laws and Florida Personal Injury Cases
The good news is that, in Florida, you can recover compensation in an insurance claim or lawsuit related to an injury even if the negligence of the policyholder or defendant is not the sole cause of your injury. Pursuant to Florida’s rule of comparative negligence, if an accident is partially your fault, you can still sue, but you can only get compensation for the share of the damages that were not your fault. For example, if you bear 30 percent of the liability for an accident, you can sue the party mostly responsible for the accident and get a damages award equal to 70 percent of your accident-related financial losses. It is possible for courts and insurance companies to divide the fault among more than two parties.
Unknown Tortfeasors and the Fabre Doctrine
At a personal injury trial, the court will decide what percentage of fault belongs to which litigant. Pursuant to the Fabre doctrine, it can even assign some of the fault to a person or entity that is a nonparty in the case. For example, if you sue the drunk driver that caused the accident, the court might assign part of the fault to the bar where the driver got drunk. It can even assign fault to a tortfeasor of unknown identity, like the driver who braked suddenly, causing the defendant to swerve and hit your car, even though that driver drove away from the scene so quickly that neither you nor the defendant could memorize the car’s license plate. Pinning the blame on an unknown tortfeasor can enable defendants to pay less than what they owe, but your lawyer can find flaws in their arguments.
Set Up a Consultation Today
A personal injury lawyer can help you get justice in a personal injury case involving an unknown tortfeasor. Contact Boone & Davis in Fort Lauderdale, Florida or call 954-566-9919 to explore your potential recovery options today.
Source:
law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/1993/79869-0.html
